Cock-hole cover.



P. & H. MUELLER. 0,13. & A. MUELLER, EXEOUTORS or ILMUBLLER, nno'n.

COCK HOLE COVER.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 19,1910.

Patented 006. 8, 19.12.

INVENTOR-S Henry Mueller. Philip M11911. e1".

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I x/ T'I'U/LY/IHS IINITED STATES l UFFICE.

PHILIP MUELLER AND HENRY MUELLER, F DECATUR, ILLINOIS; ORA B. MUELLER AND ADOLPI-I MUELLER, EXECUTORS 0F SAID HENRY MUELLER, DECEASED, AS-

SIGNORS T0 H. MUELLER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 013 DECATUR, ILLINOIS, A.

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

COCK-HOLE COVER.

Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

Application filed July 19, 1910. Serial No. 572,779.

" sinks, lavatories, etc. As ordinarily manu a with a nut and Washer to secure the plate in factured these fixtures are made with two or more holes formed in the body for the attachment of cocks to control the flow of water from the supply pipes to the fixture. Ordinarily these cocks are provided with tail pieces which project through the body of the fixture and are-attached to the supply pipe by a sleeveor a union. It frequently happens that it is not desired to use more than one supply pipe as for instance where it is desired to use only cold water, the hot water connection being dispensed with, and in such case only one cock is of use and the others are plugged up. It is the present practice to plug these holes up by covering them with a'plate or other device of ornamental design, use being made of this device to support a ring to which the stopper used in connection with the fixture is attached. These cover plates are provided on their rear sides with screw-threaded bolts which.

pass through the cock holes and cooperate place, the washer" being separate from the nut and of large size in order to extend beyond the hole and find a bearing surface on the wall of the fixture. This construction of a cover plate. and the method of attachdropp ng down, thus exposing a part of the' hole to view.. In some instances the nut ing it are open to the objection that it is hard to properly secure them in position the parts many times working loose an which it exposes a part'ofthe cock hole or.

else does not accuratelyplace it, thus giving the fixture an unattractive appearance. The

cover plates are' also many times. at fault,

being. so constructed that dirt collects around their, "edges and"bsides being uncleanly 1s unsanitary. The cover plate is also sometimes made very thin and of such shape that it buckles or kinks due to'careless handling or accidental striking of it through shipment or while it is being installed, or even after being installed, and this likewise detracts from its good appearance.

It is the object of our invention to design a cover plate which'will overcome these difiiculties and annoyances, and the details of our invention, the manner in, which they cooperate to produce the result desired, and their full advantages will be readily apparent from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated the pre-' ferred embodiment of the invention andin which- Figure l 'is a front elevation of the vertical wall of a lavatory provided with two cock holes, one of which is in use andthe' other of which is coveredby one of our improved cover plates; Fig. 2 is acentral sec-'- tion through the attachedcover plate of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 'is a rear elevation of our im-- proved cover plate; FigJ iis adiagram- .matical view showing the adaptability ofour cover plate, and Fig. 5 is a view of a ther modification,

I Referring to the drawings, 10 is the wall plate of. the lavatory. Similar to it is the modified construction. Fig. 6-is a still furfside wall of an ordinary bat-h tub or other ,side' wall of a sink., Thereare two cock holes 12 and'13 in this wall, one .of which 13 {around the edge thereof and at an angle {thereto On its rear side are a plurality of 'lugs'18 the active faces of which are tapered, andpreferably, as shown are spaced away from the axis of the cover plate. It will ;be, noted that the lugs or pro ections shown }not' only taper-from the body of the cover %plate to their ends but their outermost sides taper inwardly or toward the axis of the icover plate. Extending centrallyand axi- ,ally fromthe rear side of the cover plate is ]a bolt or screw 19 scrcw-threaded at its outer nut on the bolt at the rear until the forming the very important advantagesresult, and thetroubles above outlined are obviated. By making the-cover plate in the dome-shape form with the flange edge portion 17, we greatly increase its strength so that when it is firmly clampedin place by the screwing up of the nut 20 there is no buckling and the cover plate retains its attractive shape. Byvirtue of its sha e there is also less likeli-- hood of accidental amage during shipment and after instalment. Preferably we form the inner edge of the flange 17 flat as shown,

the entire edge being flat and in-the same plane so that it makes a tight joint with the wall of the fixture when clamped down. Dirt is thus eifectually prevented from entering behind the cover plate and from ac-- cumulating beneath the. edge of it. By

late with spaced projections on its rear sid e we, enable it to be accurately positioned with respect to the hole, the proections enteringthe holeand bearing against the side walls of the same. -By making. the projections inwardly tapering .a cover plate may be readily and easily fitted 44) Preferably the cover plate is made of soft.

and centered with respect to the opening 12v and may be used with many sizes of holes.

brass or +other bendable material having its exterior surface covered wit nickel. When the projections are spaced away from the axis of the plate as'shown and are entered in the small hole and the cover plate is drawn down tightly the projections give toward the axis of the cover plate until the cover plate is clamped fully down. In case the cover plate is used with a large hole there is considerable play between the projections 18 and the walls of the cock hole but within the range of holesprovided in standard fixtures the projections are so formed that they position the cover plate accurately enough for all practical purposes. An example of this range of adaptability is shown in r Fig. 4

where the dotted circles represent cock holesand the single full line circle with the dotted I projections represents a cover plate. With the cover plate as shown it accurately covers any one of the three-cock holes shown in outline, and the inaccuracy is insufficient to. detract from the appearance ofv the fixture. By providing a washer nut instead of the ordinary form of nut and washer a more efli cient securing means is had. Not only are the nut and washer always together and less .likely to be lost, butthe flange or washer portion 21 has an extended bearing surface on the rear side of the fixture wall, thus having a firm frictional engagement when the nut is screwed fully home! The nut is therefore less likely to come 01K During the turning'up of the nut the projections 18 act to prevent the cover plate from turning by virtue of their engagement with the inner walls of the cock hole, thus avoiding trouble which sometimes arises from this source.

That all these detail advantages combine toproduce a most eflicient cover plate and attachment is evident.

In Fig.. 5 is shown a modlfication of our imiproved cover plate. This modification di .ers from the principal embodiment in the locationof-the projections 18, theyfbeing attached to the washer nut20 instead of to the cover plate. Obviously, the same result is obtained by their use, excepting for. the

fact that they do not. aid in preventing the cover plate from turning, but themselves have to be turned with the nut.- In such instance we might provide a nut to accommo date a wrench on the cover plate, as. shown at22. g

t In the modification of Fig :6 the washer is made separate from the nut and the projections are spaced farther apart to come intopositive engagement with the walls'of the opening. 7

While we have described the best form of our invention now known to us, it is obvious that many changes may be madein its ,spe

cific embodiment especially as to formand proportionment without departing in any wise from its generic spirit. These modifications as well as the use of our'device' in connection with all 'fixtures'with which it may be used we desire to cover in'the annexed claims. IL

What we claim is,- Q i 1. A closure for openings in lavatory walls, comprising a cover member having an outer edge cupped and adapted to fit against one face of a lavatory wall, said cover member being provided with a centrally disposed externally threaded shank integral with itand of suflicient length to extend through an opening in said wall and a clamping mem- .ber provided with a centrallv disposed threaded opening into'which' said threaded shank fits in drder to force said cover memher and said clamping member toward each other, one oftsaid members having inwardly extending legs integral with it and projecting into said opening, said legs having outer inclined faces forbinding against the marginal edge of the opening, said legs havng suit-able form to guide said members into position against said wall, and in so doing to yleld under pressure exerted by the pull of said clamping member exerted upon said shank. i

2. The combination of a support having an opening therethrough and a cover plate for concealing said opening, said cover plate having an edge turned inwardly for snug engagement against said support, said cover plate being made of relatively soft material and provided with inwardly extending legs integral with it and projecting into said opening, said legs having outer inclined faces for binding against the marginal edge of the opening, said legs having suitable form to guide said cover plate into position against said support, and in so doing to yield under pressure of said plate, and clamping means engaging against the side of said support opposite said cover plate and connected with said cover plate.

3. In combination with a fixture provided with an aperture, a dished cover plate for concealing said aperturepsaicl plate having a marginal annulus bearing against said support and encirclinga portion of the surface of said support adjacent to said aperture, said plate being provided with a centrally disposed member extendingthrough said aperture and integral with said plate, and a plurality of legs radially disposed about said member and spaced equidistant therefrom, said legs being provided with 'outer surfaces tapering inwardly and a clamping member engaging said centrally disposed member for forcing said cover plate against said support.

l. In combination with a bath fixture having an aperture, a dished cover therefor, said cover having a marginal annulus bearing at one end of said aperture against said fixture, a centrally positioned outwardly extending shank interiorly integral with said cover and normally protruding from said aperture, a plurality of legs radially formed upon the interior of said cover and spaced equidistant from said shank, said shank being screw threaded, the outer surfaces of said legs tapering inwardly, and a washer nut working on the screw thread .of said shank, the free ends of one or more of said tapered abutting the inclosing walls of said aperture, said washer nut adapted to engage said fixture at the opposite end of said aperture, whereupon said annulus and the terminal portion of each abutting leg will be held in rigid contact with the meeting walls of said apertured fixture.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PHILIP MUELLER. HENRY MUELLER. Witnesses: l

W. 1t. Gus'rm, \V. R. BIDDLE. 

